Rex Ryan isn’t conceding the division to the Patriots

Posted by Josh Alper on July 29, 2012, 10:47 AM EST

Reuters

Jets coach Rex Ryan has dropped more than 100 pounds but he hasn’t dropped his obsession with finishing in front of the Patriots.

Ryan came to New York promising that he wasn’t going to kiss Bill Belichick’s Super Bowl rings and he wound up leading his team further than the Patriots in his first two seasons, including a playoff win in Foxborough en route to the 2010 AFC Championship Game. A rough 2011 season for the Jets has the team spouting a little bit less bravado, but Ryan bristled at a reporter’s question about the Jets conceding the division title to the Patriots on Saturday.

“Do I respect New England? The fact is they’ve won our division a zillion times. The three years I’ve been here, they’ve won it all three times, and I don’t think it’s been close,” Ryan said, via Bob Glauber of Newsday. “But I’ll never back down or concede anything. When you talk about conceding the division . . . yeah, right. Not me. There’s no chance here, not with the Jets.”

Glauber wasn’t the only member of the New York media to build something out of Ryan’s statement, which is a bit odd because there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about a coach saying in late July that he refuses to concede the division title to a rival. There will surely be those who see it as another sign of Ryan blowing hot air, a standard Ryan has set for himself over recent seasons, but Ryan’s not wrong to take offense at the suggestion that the Jets just shoot for second place this season.

That doesn’t mean the Jets have a team that can outlast the Patriots. On paper, everything certainly favors another division title for the Pats, but paper doesn’t always hold up on the field and that’s why teams don’t give up the fight in July.

For a team that has yet to surpass the Houston Oilers in winning AFC East titles, the Jets sure do have a lot of bravado.

backindasaddle says:Jul 29, 2012 12:35 PM

Of course he’s not going to “concede the division” to the Pats. If he did he should be fired immediately. That would be accepting defeat in advance and that is simply unacceptable. I doesn’t matter how bad a disparity there is, or how big an underdog you are…. it’s suicide to have a mentality of defeat before the war begins. Why should this even be raised as news worthy??? OF COURSE he’s not going to “concede the division”.

Yes, you are correct. The Jets should be very afraid of a Bills team who won a playoff game as recently as more than one and a half decades ago. Should also watch out for Fins, as they have won a playoff game even more recently than the Bills, only a mere 12 years ago.